I bought this machine as a curiosity and I have never regretted it.Strings are really good with some delayed vibrato and medium attack and long release but only when put through some effects like a reverb or delay. I have found the animator effect to be ok but not a classic flange/phase type sound. The piano does not sound like a piano but that is not the point the piano preset sounds good when you use the in built eq and put the sound through some delay it is mellow and mixes well with other organic type sounds. The bottom line is they are cheap to buy and are a valid sound source,I would not have this as my only synth but it definitely has a place among other analogues,it sits with my ARP Quadra and mixes well with the sounds that beauty produces.

I paid 100 pounds for my orchestra 2 and that may seem steep but she is a minter.

the strings are great and the brass has a nice filter with it.

Air Moon safari/vangelis/jarre/.

its a nice machine to have a smoke of da herb turn up da digital delay and play some mellow sounds and chill.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Aug-08-2003 at 05:43

Thom R.
a part-time user
from amsterdam
writes:

I never missed midi in or out, it's just a cheap solution for a good sound and an easy-to-use keyboard. It has some Bowie's "Low"-era sound, and warm new wave strings as well; reminded me of Cure's "Pornography". but also cool cutoff brass that sets the electroclash flame. bought it for 100 Euro in 2001. Every sound in it is warm and very retro, i write almost every song with it, but i don't like the honky tonk-piano...

Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Jan-14-2003 at 09:15

Karsten Koch
a hobbyist user
from Germany
writes:

paid 150 euro for a siel orchestra 2. has good 80s strings, clear and light. organ sounds very interesting but much like a synth organ. piano section can produce powerful chords when hapsichord is turned on. brass section is the weakest thanks to only one filter for the whole instrument. after you triggered the envelope with the first key, it can't be retriggered by the following ones. but it's ok for a string machine. the biggest hit on this machine is the 5 band equalizer which really adds magic to the sounds. use it in real time and you get space sound out of this machine! as far as i know no string machine can do this. flanger and vibrato are very useful too. overall it sounds very nice but it's not a solina/hohner/crumar kind of sound. not that heavy and thick. good as an additional sound character but it does not work well as a foreground instrument.

Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Thursday-Jul-11-2002 at 09:02

Jussi
a professional user
from Finland
writes:

I have a Siel Orchestra 2, bought it in 1997 from the fleamarket, paying an astonishing 20 marks for it....!! (That is roughly 3 US dollars...,really!)

The funny thing is, that the same fleamarket sold a little plastic electric piano at the same shelf, that one wearing a pricetag of 450 marks.... 8)

Some weird people out there....

My Siel is in quite good condition, all I had to do was to cleanup the EQ section. I have used it mainly in free improvised music, as a sound source and as a gateway. Really love the machine.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Thursday-Aug-02-2001 at 06:50

rich
a hobbyist user
from netherlands
writes:

with a bit of (alesis) reverb this turns out the sweetest high strings - combined with a bit of the brass sound with delayed vibrato this will break your heart - especially over some f**cked, distorted breakbeat.... 8) a classic sound.